Be The Young
by gleestud
Summary: AU Finchel. They spent one amazing summer together after high school, promising to find each other in Europe after college. But things changed when Rachel finds Finn first, changing everything for both of them.
1. Prologue

_**_**Disclaimer:**_**_ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only.__

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><p><em><strong>I made these wishes with you, Went coast to coast<strong>__**  
><strong>__**And we both felt so alive (so alive)**__**  
><strong>__**We traded safe for something we just had to be**__**  
><strong>__**And we almost lost our minds (lost our minds)**__**  
><strong>__**But we're still here searching**_

xxx

Her fingers were threaded in his hair, his name spilling from her lips with every thrust. His hand rested on her hips as he thrust desperately into her, his lips and teeth taking residence on her neck. She shuddered, he growled, their bodies moved together, their voices rising as they both reached their climax. She dropped one hand to his back, scrapping her nails over his skin as he bit down on her neck drawing a loud and satisfied moan from her. "Harder, baby, _harder_," the only words to leave her mouth that weren't his name as he shifted and picked up the pace of his thrusts, her name slipping from his lips as she clenched around his length, her walls sucking on him as she lifted her hips to his, taking him deeper. A strangled moan escaped his lips at the friction and he slipped a hand between them to tease her clit, her body quivering against his as she guided him to her spot, her hips moving up to meet his with every thrust. His free hand gripped her hip tighter, her hands moving back to his hair as she pulled his lips away from her neck so she could look into his eyes as hers glazed over as her body threatened to come undone. "So close…" he nodded at her words, his lips crashing down on hers as she arched her back off the bed and pushed her hips against his, taking him to her spot as her legs tightened around his hips. Her body shuddered against his as she came undone, soaking his length and kept her hips pressed against his as he hardened and groaned into her mouth at his release, filling her.

He dropped his head to her chest, letting it rise and fall as she breathed heavily. Her fingers stayed in his hair, the sounds of her happy moan filling the room and his senses. He kept his eyes shut as his hips moved against her slowly, listening to her breathing as he willed his breath to come back to normal. She started humming softly and he smiled at the sound of her voice and carefully lifted his head to rest his chin on her chest to look up at her. She smiled, moving one hand from his hair to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing over the skin slowly, "I'm going to miss you."

"You mean you're going to miss _this_."

"Obviously, because you fit so perfectly inside me," her words caused him to chuckle as she smiled and continued, "But I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too."

"This has been the best summer of my life."

"Summer's not over, babe."

"The best part of it was _you_."

"I have to agree. What would you have done this summer without me?"

"Gone away with my parents on their romantic cruise for two?"

"That sounds a little stuffy."

"Especially since they're trying to fix their marriage and all."

"I'm glad I came to rescue you."

"I'm glad you came to rescue me too," he shifted carefully, causing her to moan at the feel of him still in her, and propped himself up on his elbows, "So what happens now?"

"We go away to college, we never see each other again and somewhere someday, we'll run into each other on the streets of some European city and have one night of pure bliss before we have to get back to regularly scheduled lives again."

"That sounds very _exciting_."

"I live in a fantasy world where a hot football player with amazing hands and a talented tongue want to devour me every chance they get."

"I like your fantasy world; it's very similar to mine. Instead of a hot football player, I've got a brown eyed beauty with the most amazing voice and legs that go on for miles telling me that there's nowhere else she'd rather be than with me."

"Do you have to leave?"

"Only if I want to get myself a good job to support myself in four years."

"Come away with me, then."

"You know I can't, _babe_. I'd love to, but I can't."

"I know," she sighed softly, the sadness evident in her eyes as she slowly moved her thumb along his lips, "I guess I'll just have to wait for Europe then."

"I'll come find you."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he shifted carefully, pulling out of her as he stretched to press a soft kiss to her lips. She held his face in her hands and kissed him back, pulling away only to look him in the eyes, "I'm going to miss you so much, Finn."

"I'm going to miss you more, Rach."


	2. A New Start

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only._

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><p>College. It was supposed to be the turning point in his life or something. He couldn't remember the speech that the principal at his school and the vale…vale…, whatever the person who was picked to make the big fancy speech is called person, had made, but they had said something about college making you the person you want to be for the rest of your life. He wasn't someone with big dreams and hopes and wishes, he just wanted to play football, have fun and get through the next four years without working too hard and getting sick too often. Something told him that was too much to ask for. But he was going to do this. He was going to focus on college, he was going to make quarterback of the team and he was going to get himself a good job and make something of himself. His mother had cried the day before he had left and sat him down and told him that she was proud of him and that his father would be too, if he was still alive and then she had just leaned against him and sobbed. It was almost like he was leaving her alone and going off. She had Burt and his son, Kurt, and while he wasn't completely welcoming of them at first, he liked the Hummels. They brought something fresh to the house and in a way, Kurt was like the daughter his mother never had. He had made her feel better by promising to come home as often as he possibly could; after all he was only going to be a few hours away. in her fragile state of mind, Finn didn't want to remind her that he would have to change flights just so that he could be back home in Lima. She didn't need that right then.<p>

"Dude, there are these girls on our floor that look like they're ready to have some fun."

"You've been saying that since we got the brochure for this place."

"Well, it's true. You haven't even taken a look at all the ass you can score here."

"It's been two days, Puck, control yourself."

"_You're_ telling me to control myself?" Finn looked at his best friend and shrugged, arching an eyebrow, "What is this funk you've been in since you got home from that summer break with Burt and Kurt?"

"What funk?"

"The last party of the year and you've got Quinn and Santana and Brittany all waving their goodies in your face and you do _nothing_."

"We both know that easy is _your_ type of girl."

"Quinn is not that easy. Besides, you've been with Quinn before, now you're suddenly not interested?"

"She's not my type and all she wants is to have some stupid token boyfriend when she goes away to college."

"She's everyone's type, dude, she's a _girl_."

"So why didn't you make something happen before we left?"

"Because she's all hung up on you and I'm not the kind of best friend to go hooking up with my best friend's sloppy seconds," Finn rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of his bed, running a hand through his hair, "Noah Puckerman, you have my _blessing_ to do whatever the hell you want with Quinn."

"Dude, seriously though," Puck tossed a football at him and Finn caught it surprisingly fast and nodded, "Was there a girl at this summer break?"

"I'm not hung up on a girl," Finn tossed the football back at Puck and growled, "Can we please stop talking about this and get on with the rest of our day?"

"Fine, but you do realize that if I find out that there was a girl and you're holding out on me, we're going to be exchanging punches, not words."

"I don't get why this is such a big deal!" Finn stood up again, rummaging through his duffel bag to make sure that all his football gear was tucked in there.

"You look like you got your heart broken and obviously it's not Quinn, because she's here with us and when you dumped that sweet piece of ass, you looked like you were the happiest person alive."

"Just drop it," Finn pulled the bag over his shoulders, letting the strap stretch across his chest as he grabbed the football on his table and pointed it at Puck, "We have football tryouts and I think we both need to focus on that because there is no way I'm going to be quarterback without my running back."

"Whatever, I'm watching you."

_**xxx**_

There was nothing fun about football tryouts. Back in Lima, Finn was the biggest kid anybody had seen. But here, in Chicago, he was probably small compared to the other people trying out. It even had Puck scared shitless and this is the guy that drove a Volvo through a 7-11. It was grueling with wind sprints every time somebody screwed up and an earful if you tried to do something other than what was yelled at you. Coach Bieste was a breeze compared to the man that towered over Finn and called Puck Fuckerman just to taunt and tease him. the senior varsity team just sat there on the bleachers watching the _noobs_ work their asses off to get selected and it became very clear that there was no way that Finn was going to ever score himself the quarterback position. Not when the current quarterback was about two inches taller than him and as wide as Karofsky. After 100 more wind sprints to wrap up the tryouts, Finn found Puck with his head buried inside a dustbin, puking his guts out. They hadn't eaten much at lunch because they knew that tryouts weren't going to be easy, but this was not what either of them had signed up for. Helping Puck steady himself, Finn handed his best friend a towel and watched as the varsity team made fun of them on their way off the bleachers. Puck growled under his breath, except it sounded like he was going to throw up again, and Finn patted him on the back, "It'll get better."

"Yeah, when I'm dead."

"that was terrible."

"We're never making it onto the team now."

"Positive thinking always went over so well with you."

"Did you see the other guys on the team? They're twice as big as you, twice as fast as me and they plow into you like you're not even there!"

"Bieste did warn us about college football."

"Dude, that wasn't a _warning_. She said, and I'm quoting here, 'College football will hurt'," Finn looked at Puck as they followed the rest of the group back into the locker rooms, "That, my dear best friend, is not a warning."

"Look, we knew this wasn't going to be easy. We just have to work harder, practice more."

"How are you so fucking calm right now? Every single guy in here can beat the crap out of us without even breaking a sweat."

"I've got you for that. You and your fight club experience."

"Fight club, yeah, that will help me out here so much," Finn chuckled as Puck rolled his eyes and dropped his bag beside the locker with a strip of white plaster with his name written on it, "We're gonna have to watch each other's backs out there, Finn."

"We always have and we always will," Finn held his fist out to Puck, "Now will you please calm down so we don't look like we're scared of what we got ourselves into?"

"Fine." Finn sat down, unhooked the gear and carefully took it off, not wanting to pull any more muscles or cramp up any other part of his body. Every inch of him ached and it wasn't even the good kind of satisfying after too much sex ache or the kind of ache that he got after winning a good game. This was torture and Finn wasn't sure if he would be able to hold it together much longer. Pulling his ripped t-shirt off, he ran his fingers along his sides carefully, wincing as he grazed the bruises and cuts from being tossed around for four hours. He glanced over at Puck and noticed a big bruise on his left shoulder and shook his head, "We need to find a way to practice on our own so that the next time someone comes charging at us, we actually know what to do."

"We've been here for a whole two days, as you so politely reminded me earlier, we don't even know if there is a place we can practice."

"Not to eavesdrop, but there is a space," Finn and Puck looked over their shoulders at the new voice and saw a guy about Puck's height grinning back at them, "Jackson, from Indiana, nice to meet you guys."

"Finn and this is Puck," Finn shook Jackson's hand and smiled slightly, "We're from Ohio."

"You're the dude coach was calling Fuckerman," Jackson shook his head, not smiling or laughing, "I swear, Hitler would cry if he met the man."

"I take it you thought your coach back home was the devil and now he just seems like Jesus, huh?"

"You know it."

"great, we're all in the same boat," Puck gave Finn a small shrug and went back to getting his gear off as Finn kept his eyes on Jackson, "So, about this space…"

"Yeah, some of the other new guys who are from around here know of this abandoned football field that was used by some high school or the other a few years ago. They said that it's probably a mess because kids use it for wild parties or whatever, but if we clean it up, we can use it for practices when we're not being tortured like wild animals here."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"At first, but once we have a place that _we_ can use, this might not seem so bad."

"Dude," Finn arched an eyebrow as Puck welcomed himself back into the conversation, "This is never not going to be so bad. We're always going to be struggling to be something more on this team."

"Is he always this bright and sunny," Jackson smiled a little, rolling his eyes as he turned to Finn, "Or is it just me?"

"It's Chicago and the fact that he still hasn't gotten laid," Finn laughed as Puck punched him in the arm and for a minute there he completely forgot about the pain that was shooting up every part of his body, "He'll brighten up once he gets some. And maybe some beer too."

"Good, because we're all heading to O'Leary's tonight to do some brotherly bonding."

"Is that an invitation?"

"It's a 'you're coming with us' comment."

"Sounds good to me, might help numb the pain everywhere."

"That's what we're all hoping for," Finn glanced from Puck to Jackson as the new guy scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to him, "Here's the address, be there by 9 and you'll get a round on the Chicago boys, come there later and you're on your own."

"Okay," Puck took the paper from Finn and rolled his eyes, "We'll see you there."

_**xxx**_

Finn followed Puck into O'Leary's a few minutes before 9 and spotted Jackson and a few others from the team huddled around a table laughing and drinking beer. The group greeted them with high fives and loud cheers, calling for another round of beer as everyone turned around to look at them. It felt good to know that they weren't the only ones suffering from the football tryouts because while the gang present looked like they were having a good time, every time they moved Finn caught one of them wincing. He sat on a stool and leaned against the wall as the guys swapped football stories, followed by their list of conquests and it took Puck exactly six seconds to fit into the group. Finn laughed as he listened to Puck narrate one of the stories that seemed to be in his collection permanently. Sighing happily at the fact that he had beer, his best friend and a group of new friends, Finn let his eyes scan the bar. It was exactly what he thought college bars would be like. there were people everywhere, each table making their own amount of noise, guys and girls falling all over each other as they got a chance to relax for a few hours before repeating the process all over again the next day. The walls were covered in photographs and football memorabilia, antique pieces of crap that they didn't know what to do with and a dart board that seemed to be neglected completely. He sipped on his second mug of beer, smiling to himself as he watched the girls. Maybe Puck was right about college chicks, they seemed surer of themselves and they were most definitely hotter than high school girls. He thought he saw Quinn, Santana and Brittany sitting at a table with a group of girls, but everyone at that table was so drunk, he couldn't really be sure. He'd be okay _bumping into_ Santana or Brittany, but if he did have a run in with Quinn, he wanted Puck to be there to help him get out of it as fast as possible. That relationship might have been pretty amazing at the start, but then she got weird and Finn knew that it wasn't what he wanted. He liked being popular (who didn't?) and he liked the attention the other girls gave him, but Quinn kept wanting him to be more than what he was. He couldn't, or so Finn thought, be more popular than being the quarterback and captain of the football team. He had led the McKinley High Titans to two high school championships, what more could he ask for? According to Quinn, there was more – prom king, homecoming king, this king, that king and some other unheard of before king. But he didn't want any of that, it was all so _high school_ and as far as he could tell once you were out of high school, the fact that you were prom king or homecoming king meant squat.

"Hudson! Earth to Hudson!" Finn blinked as he looked back at the group, frowning as they stared at him with identical expressions, "What?"

"You got any horror stories about football camp or crazy ex-girlfriends?"

"I have _one_ ex-girlfriend and she's crazy in every clichéd way possible," Finn smirked as Puck laughed, "And _Fuckerman_ there already told you every football camp story there is to tell."

"So, what, you guys have known each other forever?"

"Since we were five."

"And you decided to come to college together?"

"If you're going to make a crack about us being in love and not wanting to be apart, save it," Puck narrowed his eyes at the group, causing all of them to chuckle, "He can't live without me. That's all."

"Sadly, that is true," Finn faked a depressed look and refilled his mug as the guys continued laughing. They were drunk, not at the point where they couldn't keep it together, but drunk enough to be laughing at the randomest of things. A few more rounds and if they talked about people dying, the guys would be still laughing, probably even louder. "Whoa, drunk hot brunette at five o'clock."

Eight sets of heads turned to where the girl was picking herself up off the floor and Finn realized that nobody was even helping her. there were a few watching her, but nobody was moving. Sighing as the guys made comments about her legs and her boobs, Finn set his mug down and rushed over to her and scooped her up into his arms as the bartender pointed towards the bathrooms. She was limp in his arms and if it wasn't for Puck running after him, there was no way that they would have made it into the bathroom without Finn falling over. He sat her down on the counter as Puck filled a glass with water and took a few minutes to catch his breath before pushing her hair out of her face, "Holy shit."

"What?" Puck handed him the glass of water and Finn splashed it in her face, causing her to jerk awake, her hands flailing for something to grab, "Whoa there, hottie. Easy."

"Where am I?" Her eyes darted around the bathroom before resting on Finn, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she reached out to touch his face, "Finn?"

"You know each other?" Puck nudged Finn out of his stupor and he nodded in response as he reached for her hand, "Explain, please?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I go here."

"Here?"

"I'm at DePaul."

"Not to interrupt this reunion, but what the fuck is going on?" Finn shook his head and looked at Puck, "Sorry, uh, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is my best friend Puck."

"Is that really your name?" Finn smiled as he kept his eyes on Rachel, trying to process what was happening as Puck cleared his throat, "It's actually Noah, but I really don't like that."

"Is it okay if I just call you Noah?"

"If you insist," Puck sighed heavily and Finn looked at him as he shrugged, "I'll be outside if you need me."

Once he was gone, Rachel tugged on Finn's hand, causing him to turn back to look at her, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm at Chicago U; I thought you were going to Europe?"

"My parents spent most of the money on their stupid cruise and I just went with my second option."

"New York was your second option."

"Fine, my third option," Rachel rolled her eyes and Finn nodded, swallowing hard as he tried to piece everything together, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised to see you here," he gave her a soft smile, "And see you _drunk_ at that."

"I met these girls in class that insisted on drinking tonight and you know how I feel about alcohol, but they dragged me out anyway and I drank a few tequila shots and I was go-" Finn cut her off with a kiss, feeling her hesitate before responding, her free hand moving through his hair to pull him closer. Inhaling sharply through his nose, Finn broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers as he smiled, "Good to know that even when you're drunk, you talk too much."

"It's so good to see you, Finn," she brushed her knuckles over his jaw slightly and smiled, "I should probably get back to my room before they try and make me drink some more. I don't think I can handle anything that is golden in color right now."

"Here," Finn filled the glass with more water and handed it to her, "I'll walk you back."

"You don't have to, it's pretty safe," she licked her lips and frowned, "Right?"

"You're asking someone who has been here for exactly two days now, so I'd feel better if I just walked you back to your room."

"Who am I to argue when a hot football player with amazing hands and a talented tongue offers to walk me back to my room?" Finn laughed, shaking his head as he helped her off the counter and held onto her to make sure that she could stand on her feet without tipping over, "You okay?"

"I will be," she reached down for his hand and linked their fingers, "Shall we?"

"Absolutely."


	3. When We First Met Summer Part 1

__**_**Disclaimer:**_**_ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only.___

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><p><em>Summer of 2012<em>

He really didn't want to go to the Hamptons for the summer break because that meant he would miss football camp, and parties at Puck's house and skinny dipping with the girls and all those things they used to do every summer. But this is important to his mother and step-father and Finn doesn't want to seem like a brat, so he agrees. Even before they leave, he's decided that it's going to be the worst summer ever. They fly to New York, meet up with a large group of people that Burt works with and then they all travel to the Hamptons together. The best part about the Hamptons – Finn decides this on the second day – is that the _mansion_ they're living in is on the beach. Which means that he can roll out of bed and onto the sand. And for someone who has never seen the ocean before that summer, this is the actually the best thing that could happen. They eat at fancy restaurants the first week and Kurt helps him decide what he's going to wear – the perks of having a gay brother – and they sip on fruit juices while the adults drink wine and whiskey and get totally drunk every single night. Luckily for Finn, he didn't show up with any particular plan in mind. He just goes with what his parents tell him and there's really no escaping it now since he's already in the Hamptons. The day the adults decide to go back to the city for sightseeing (for the wives) and meetings (for the husbands), Finn and Kurt are left alone with the other _kids_. They're the oldest two at this whole summer getaway and it makes Finn feel totally awkward because he's already done with high school and the rest of the gang are pipsqueaks that don't even come up to his knee. They've been left with the job of babysitting, except everyone called it something else. Kurt says to make it sound more dignified. But the adults make it a point to give the older boys time off, time to go do whatever it is they want to do. Leading Finn straight to a beach party where the summer changed for the better.

_**xxx**_

When she gets sent off to the Hamptons, Rachel knows that it's because her parents just don't want her hanging around and cramping their style. Every summer she gets driven to her grandparents' house and left there for three months while her parents fix their marriage, destroy their marriage or just do their own thing. And it's been going on for almost ten years now and Rachel knows that there is no way it's going to get better. Rachel knows better than to get involved in their fights because the one time she did stick her head in it, she got slapped across the face and locked up in her room for the whole day. At one point she even believed that they forgot she existed. She also knows that the reason her parents fight so much is because of her. her father wanted her, her mother didn't and when they finally decided after a round of 'rock, paper, scissors', her mother lost and was stuck with the biggest mistake of her life. She's always wanted to know why they can't just get a divorce, but her father mumbles something about staying together for her. Rachel doesn't understand why they would do that when she is clearly the reason they are constantly trying to kill each other. But after that one time, she doesn't ask anymore or say anything. She lets them send her off to the Hamptons and she spends a wonderful summer on the beach, reading, listening to music, partying at night, meeting new people, watching others fall in love while she sits in her little corner waiting for prince charming. She tells herself that this summer it's going to be different, she's going to have more fun and she's not going to hate her parents for going on a cruise that she found for the family without her. Rachel Berry is going to have the best summer of her life and nothing and nobody is going to change that.

_**xxx**_

"Finn, this is not a good idea."

"You don't have to come with me, Kurt."

"You'd rather me sit there with those noisy, bratty children and their stuck up parents for another night?"

"You could always find your own beach party."

"You're an amazing brother, you know that?"

"I'm sorry that this isn't your scene, Kurt, but I don't really wanna go bar hopping till we find a gay bar."

"I didn't say that."

"Not in those words, you mean."

"Finn," Finn stops, turning around to look at Kurt as he carefully runs a hand over his hair to settle whatever has blown out of place from their speedy walk to the bonfire that Finn can now finally feel on his back, "Just don't leave me alone."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you do that at every party we've been to in Lima."

"That was different; you always had someone else to hang with."

"Mercedes and Tina are not really perfect to hang out with when they're drunk."

"Kurt," grabs him by the shoulders and looks him in the eyes, "Calm down. We're going to meet a few people, get a couple of drinks and then when the fire dies out, we'll walk back to the mansion, okay?"

"Okay."

"And if your gaydar," Finn grins, totally impressed that he remembers the word the last time Kurt used it, causing him to roll his eyes, "Suddenly goes off, don't panic, just go with the flow."

"Go with the flow, okay."

"I cannot believe I'm giving you advice after you kept telling me what to do when it came to Quinn."

"Thank the heavens you dumped her. she was becoming a headache for me and I wasn't even dating her."

"We're not to talk about _her_ again. At least not till the summer is over. I want this summer to be epic and drama free."

"You better not be hooking up with the first girl that throws herself at you."

"Dude, I have way more class than that."

_**xxx**_

Except that's exactly what happens and Finn wakes up how many ever hours later as the sun falls on his face and discovers that he's tangled in the sheets with a brunette who smells so good he just wants to taste every inch of her. he turns onto his side to avoid the sun from burning his face off and watches the brunette sleep, his fingers itching to push the hair out of her face, but afraid that if he does that she'll wake up and then they'll have to have the conversation about what the hell happened. Then again, he could just leave and pretend like it didn't happen and hope to god that he never sees her again. In the middle of his full body scan, he notices the tattoo on her left side. it's right below her boob and its one gold star with a line of stars leading to her back. kind of like the string on a kite. It makes him smile and without even thinking about it, he reaches out and traces the long line of stars all the way to her back, cursing himself silently as she stirs beside him. he pulls his hand away and watches her, ready to close his eyes when she opens hers, but when she pushes her hair out of her face and glances at him groggily, he's lost all power to breathe. She's beautiful and not in the conventional sense like Quinn, but she's literally knocked the wind out of him. Finn wonders if he can remember how they got to where they are right then, but he's distracted by the way her tongue darts out to wet her lips, the way she scrunches up her nose as she forces her eyes open slowly and the soft moan that escapes her lips when she pushes herself up on her elbows. And then she turns to look at him, her eyes widening and her lips forming a perfect O and Finn forgets what the hell he was supposed to say or do because those gorgeous chocolate brown eyes are sucking him in and he's feeling completely short of breath. He blinks twice as he catches her mouth moving to form words and watches her frown as he doesn't respond. When she lifts her hand to push the bangs out of her eyes, Finn instinctively reaches out to do the same, their hands brushing, jolting him out of his staring game, "What?"

"Where are we?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Last night….did we?"

"I'd like to think so given that we're both completely naked and there's a box of condoms open on the bedside table."

"Oh god," he smiles to himself as she drops her head onto the pillow, groaning loudly before lifting her head to look at him, her bangs falling in her eyes again, "I'm Rachel."

"Finn."

"It's nice to meet you."

"I wonder if we had this same conversation last night."

"I hope our first meeting was better than this."

"I kinda like the way we just met," Finn smiles, letting his dimples show and is about to open his mouth to say more when the door opens, causing Rachel to squeal and turn onto her side, pulling the sheet to cover her exposed area. Finn groaned inwardly as her back pressed against his front and it took him a few minutes to focus on the newcomer in the room, "Glad you're up. Coffee and breakfast?"

"Seriously Greg, you could _knock_."

"And miss seeing you press yourself up against the hottie there? Hell, no."

"Go away."

"Don't make too much noise now," Finn frowned, totally confused, as the blonde dude shut the door and walked away. looking down at Rachel as she turned slightly, still pressed against him, Finn smiled, "Coffee and breakfast?"

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's cool, my best friend always walks in on me with a strange girl," Finn bit down on his lip as Rachel laughed and it took so much control to not just kiss her right then. And of course she beat him to it, leaning up to kiss the corner of his mouth before sliding out of bed, leaving the sheet she had been clinging to dear life abandoned on the bed. Finn sat up, watching her move around the room, picking up her clothes before she turned to look at him, "You don't want coffee and breakfast? Greg makes a mean pot of coffee and an even meaner breakfast if you eat meat."

"You don't eat meat?"

"Only when I'm drunk," Finn realizes his eyebrow is arched only when Rachel rolls her eyes and tosses him his clothes. He gets out of bed, pulls them on just as Greg walks in again, holding two large cups of coffee that Finn can't wait to taste, because from where he's standing, they smell pretty amazing. "Nice to meet you, tall guy, I'm Greg, Rachel's personal bodyguard."

"Finn, Rachel's new friend?"

"You're lucky you're hot, or you'd be out on your ass already."

"Lucky me," Finn offers him a smile and glances at Rachel as Greg sways his way out of the room, "Wonder if he's met my step brother yet."

"Greg will never admit to anyone but me that he's gay, so good luck with that."

"Kurt has a gaydar, or something," he shrugs and takes a sip of the coffee, unable to control the happy moan that escapes his lips and swallows, as he looks at Rachel who has her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, "That is pretty good coffee."

"It's almost like I have to compete with coffee now."

"I'm pretty sure you were better than the coffee."

"Flattery will get you anywhere."

_**xxx**_

it's the fifth morning in a row that she's woken up and found herself staring into those adorable brown eyes and the dimples that accompany them when they light up. She knows that one night stands are supposed to end with _one night_, but they manage to keep doing this even after that first night. the only problem is neither of them remembers how they even get back to Greg's guestroom every single time. And every single time, Rachel squeals and turns, pressing herself against Finn as Greg comes to check on them. And every single time he mumbles something about locking the bedroom door when she resists the urge to let her hands roam over his bare skin. But they never get further than coffee and breakfast in Greg's kitchen, because somehow they know that they'll find each other again. However, that morning, Greg doesn't come to wake them up and it's only because she can hear him having the time of his life in the other room while she watches Finn sleep. She's not sure how anyone can sleep through Greg chanting, _fuck me harder, fuck me faster, fuck me deeper_ over and over and again, but Finn manages to do just that. He's got his arm around her waist and his face is half buried in the pillow as he snores lightly. Just watching him makes Rachel smile and the sounds of his snoring becomes her focus as she drowns out Greg and his sex noises. She took a chance on tracing his jaw, smiling at how perfectly shaped it was, and pulled her finger back as he stirred and woke up, blinking as he clearly tried to focus on her. "Hey."

"Hi, didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay, feels like I've slept too much anyway."

"We're not getting coffee and breakfast today."

"I hear that," Finn chuckled and Rachel bit down on her bottom lip, smiling up at him, "What?"

"Do you remember anything from last night?"

"Surprisingly, yeah."

"What?"

"You called me _baby_ and refused to let me use a condom," Finn nodded and Rachel shook her head, her eyes widening as she tried to process this, "Serious."

"Finn!"

"What?"

"I'm not on the pill!"

"And I'm supposed to know this how?" Rachel poked him repeatedly in the chest as he frowned and looked down at her, "If it makes you feel any better, you made me pull out before."

"Just a little better," Rachel sighed heavily, covering her face as Finn's hand moved along her back slowly, "Sorry for poking you so hard."

"It's cool, I'm a football player, that's nothing compared what I usually endure."

"You're a football player? Like a real jock?" Rachel looked up at him, totally confused as Finn shrugged like it was no big deal, "You don't get it."

"Get what? I'm totally confused right now."

"You're this popular guy and I'm a nobody."

"You're not a nobody."

"If you knew me in high school, you'd agree that I'm a nobody."

"But I know you now and I can tell you that you're not _nobody_ material."

"What does that even mean?"

"Look at you," Finn pulled back slightly as Rachel frowned, watching him stare her up and down before looking back at her, "You're beautiful and perfect and I'm pretty sure you sing in your sleep instead of snoring, like regular people."

"That's not funny."

"What? You don't see the way the guys around here look at you?"

"Finn," Rachel rolled her eyes and pulled out of his embrace and rolled out of bed, wrapping the sheet around her body, "The guys in the Hamptons don't give a crap about a girl like me from Queens."

"That's where you're wrong," she sighed as she moved around the room, picking up her panties and bra, trying to locate her clothes as she half-listened to him rambling, "I've seen the way the guys here watch you, check you out and talk about you. Sure, it's a little frustrating to know that they talk about how perfect your butt is and the things they would do to you on any given day, but they talk. And while that's not flattering for you because it's degrading and I know how you feel about stuff like that, you're not a _nobody_."

"Are you saying you don't participate in these conversations?"

"That is what I'm saying, but I'm also saying that you're selling yourself short. You're beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have you in his life."

"What are you saying, Finn?"

"Let's do something without getting drunk first," Rachel turned around to look at him, the sheet sliding off as she chewed on her lip, watching him climb off the bed and walk to her, "Go out with me. We'll go for dinner, walk on the beach and then we can come back here, or go to your place or mine and get to know each other really well."

"Why?"

"Because I think it'd be good for us to do more than _just_ have sex."

"Isn't that what most guys want when they come off to the Hamptons for their summer break?"

"I'm not most guys."

"So you want to woo me?"

"I want to show you a good time with our clothes on."

"And we can maybe take them off afterwards?"

"If you still want to, yeah, sure."

"Okay."

"Perfect," Rachel smiled, pushing herself onto her toes as she met him halfway for a quick kiss, before dropping back onto her feet, letting her hand rest on his chest as she chewed on her lip, "You can pick me up from here."

"At 8?"

"That sounds good."

"Good," they shared a long look before Finn stepped back, picking his clothes up off the floor as he glanced at her occasionally, "You're going to have to put clothes on if you want me to leave."

"I'm in shock; I can't do anything that involves me moving."

"You're making this really difficult for me, Rachel," Finn looked up from pulling on his shoes as Rachel dropped the sheet and she had to bite down on her lip from smiling at the sound of the growl that came from him, "I'm gonna go now before our date never happens."

"I'll see you tonight."

"Wear something comfortable."

"Bye, Finn."

"Bye, beautiful."


	4. Just When I Thought I Knew You

___**_**Disclaimer:**_**_ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only.____

____**Author's Note:** This chapter is a little all over the place, because I wrote it with a few weeks in between. So forgive me if everything gets a little confusing.____

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><p><em>Chicago, 2012<em>

Rachel opened her eyes and looked around her dorm room slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. She stretched her arms out on either side of her and arched her back off the bed as she felt all her muscles pull. Settling back into the bed, she turned onto her side and buried her face in her pillow, pulling back almost instantly at the familiar smell clinging to the fabric. She sat up quickly and groaned as her head spun and closed her eyes as she released the grip she had on the sheet wrapped around her. It took her a few more minutes to settle the throbbing in her head before she opened her eyes and looked around the room, her eyes settling on every discarded piece of clothing. She hadn't been alone the night before, but given that she couldn't see any other pieces of clothing lying around, Rachel assumed that whoever it was had snuck out before she woke up. The way a one night stand was supposed to happen. She wasn't upset with their departure, but she really wished that she had known who it was. Especially since she couldn't remember much from the night before. Glancing down at herself, Rachel frowned at the black V-neck t-shirt she was wearing and lifted it to her nose, smiling to herself. _Finn_. She wasn't surprised that he was gone, because this was how they should have done things during the summer anyway. Carefully climbing out of bed, she picked up all the clothes from the floor and tossed them in the hamper and grabbed a fresh pair of panties and pulled them on just as there was a knock on the door. Groaning, Rachel pulled her hair off her face in a messy ponytail and glanced at her reflection in the mirror before pulling the door open. It didn't matter that she looked a complete mess and her mascara was smudged all over her face, when she opened the door and found Finn standing outside, he was all that mattered.

"I didn't wake you up, right?"

"I was just picking up the remnants of my night with a mysterious guy."

"Mhm," Finn smiled at her and she stepped aside to let him in, "No clues as to who the mystery guy might be?"

"He did let me sleep in his t-shirt, which tells me that he wears really nice cologne and is really _big_. But that's about it."

"Looks like I have some random dude to beat up for leaving you in bed alone."

"I can look after myself, but I do appreciate the thought."

"I'm a gentleman like that, unlike your mystery guy," Rachel watched him as he shrugged and smiled as she shook her head, "You should keep the t-shirt though, it looks better on you."

"It's a dress on me."

"All the better to show off those gorgeous legs."

"I suppose that is a good enough reason to keep it," laughing softly, Rachel grabbed her basket and towel, "I'm going to clean up, make yourself comfortable."

"I was thinking we could go out for lunch or something?"

"I could definitely eat some lunch," she winked at him, slipping her feet into her flip-flops and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sighing happily, Rachel walked to the bathrooms and ignored the way everybody else on her floor was looking at her. She was never the one stumbling out of her room looking like that, because she was always gone before the rest of the floor was even awake. But there she was, still smelling like alcohol and cigarettes, mascara streaming down her face and wearing a t-shirt belonging to one of the hottest guys she had ever met. And if that wasn't enough, said hot guy was waiting for her in her room and offering to take her out for lunch. The right thing would have been to ask him what had happened the night before, but Rachel knew better than to ruin what they were enjoying right then. It wasn't like this was the first time that they had slept together and it wasn't the first time that Rachel had woken up smelling like Finn while he was off doing something else. This was _normal_.

Stepping out of the shower, Rachel wrapped the towel around her body and gathered her wet hair over one shoulder. She brushed her teeth and resisted the urge to smile as she did so. She hadn't even been in Chicago long enough and she already had a friend. And Finn wasn't just a _friend_, he was probably the only guy who knew her inside out. He knew _almost_ everything there was to know about her. Even Rachel had to keep a few secrets from the guy that she had spent the most glorious summer with, but she knew that secrets were the least of her problems. She was nothing compared to half the girls on campus and Finn was sure to already have a few admirers, she would just be another one of those girls. It was something that she had to come to terms with, because girls like her _never_ got guys like Finn. No matter how much he convinced her that she was exactly what guys like her wanted in a girl. She was flawed. Rachel turned her head to the side and ran her index finger down her nose as she brushed her teeth. _Stupid nose_. It was her biggest flaw, the same thing that would always stop guys from wanting anything to do with her. Rachel wasn't stupid, she knew that guys were always drawn to a girl by the way they looked, because a person's personality wasn't hanging around their neck like a sign post. You were drawn to the physical aspect of the person first and then you learned more about them. It was just the way things worked and she knew that she would be competing with prettier, sexier and more confident girls in Chicago. Especially if she was going to be competing for Finn's attention. She heard someone say something behind her, followed by a fit of giggles, but Rachel forced herself to ignore it and focused on brushing her teeth and getting the gunk off her face. When her face was squeaky clean, she adjusted her towel and grabbed her things and headed back to her room. Cursing herself for not taking her key when she reached the door, Rachel knocked and glanced over her shoulder at the girls watching her. Taking a deep breath, she turned away as Finn opened the door and moved to brush past him into the room, when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Rachel's eyes widened as his lips crashed down on hers, causing her to almost lose her grip on her bathroom basket. A soft whimper escaped her lips as he pulled away and shut the door and Rachel dropped back down on her feet and looked up at him, "What was that for?"

"You looked like you needed it."

"Uh huh," Rachel tilted her head to the side and looked at him, "Spit it out."

"I've seen that look on your face before and that was my way of showing you that you're perfect just the way you are."

"Finn," Rachel sighed and walked to her cupboard, running a hand through her hair, "You need to stop saying that."

"I meant it during the summer, and I mean it now. You really need to start believing me."

"Where were you this morning?"

"I went back to my place to get changed and to let Puck know where I was."

"Why did you come back?"

"Because we've never been good at one night stands."

"What are you doing here now?"

"What is going on?" Rachel shook her head, keeping her focus fixed on the inside of her cupboard, "Nothing. I'm going to change and I want you to look away."

"It's not like I haven't seen everything already."

"Finn!"

"Looking away, looking away," she glanced over her shoulder as he turned away and sat on the edge of her bed, fiddling with his phone. This wasn't going according to plan. He had stayed because of their history, he had come back because of their history and he had kissed her right there in front of everyone because he knew that they made her insecure. It was scary just how well he knew her and all Rachel could do was still find fault with him wanting to spend time with her.

_**xxx**_

He knows something is wrong and he would ask her, except he's terrified that she'll snap at him and then leave him standing there in the middle of nowhere while she trudges back to her dorm. He knew something was off the minute she got back from her shower and while kissing her wasn't the smartest thing to do, he knew that was exactly what was needed for those girls sniggering to shut up. He knew how they functioned, after all he had spent only most of his life around Quinn, Santana and Brittany. Finn doesn't know how to deal with a girl who is having trouble accepting that she's actually beautiful, because every girl he's ever known or dated has always been so confident about who they are. He glances at her from the corner of his eyes and chews on his lip, waiting for her to stop scowling. From the minute she pulled on her jeans and sweater, Rachel's face was fixed in that permanent scowl and while she actually makes scowling look hot, Finn's concerned that the scowl might become a permanent fixture on her face. And nobody looks good with a permanent fixture. He keeps his hands in his pockets as they walk, looking at her every few minutes just to make sure she's not having a meltdown or walking in the opposite direction, "Rachel?"

"Yes, Finn?"

"Are you going to pretend like I don't exist all through lunch?"

"What?"

"You look annoyed and I don't want to push you to tell me what's wrong, but are you going to talk to me ever?"

"Maybe lunch was a bad idea."

"You have to eat at some point."

"Yeah, I can go down the street to that bakery and buy something and eat it in my room."

"How is that fun?"

"Lunch does not have to be fun."

"Yes, it does. Lunch is one of the funnest meals ever. Everybody's looking for a break and lunch is the perfect excuse to escape your either boring or super exciting life and do something else with someone else."

"I like eating alone. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Sure, there's nothing wrong with it. But don't you wanna go out somewhere and eat something other than the _usual_?"

"I like my usual food."

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"Rachel," Finn reached for her arm and stopped walking, "You can try and lie to me, but we both know that I know you better than that."

"You _think_ you know me better than that."

"Those girls on your floor aren't worth it."

"This has nothing to do with them, okay? I don't want to talk about it."

"We're not going to lunch till you do."

"I can do without lunch, I lost my appetite."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Why are you being so _you_?"

"Because I care about you!" He pulled his hand away and pushed it through his hair as he shook his head, "You're still stuck in that bubble where you think guys don't like you. Where if you're not blonde, or popular or skinny or whatever the hell you think it is, people won't like you. It doesn't matter if people don't like you, if you have one or two people who can appreciate you the way you are, who cares about the rest of the world?"

"Who appreciates me the way I am, Finn? My own parents don't care about me."

"I appreciate you, so much. So does Kurt and I'm pretty sure that Puck is totally into you, because all he could talk about was the hottie I left with last night."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're different and because just being around you makes me happy."

"You're a pain in my ass, Finn Hudson."

"Right back at you, Rachel Berry."

They survive lunch, but when Rachel decides to order dessert, things get a little complicated. They come out of nowhere, as they do all the time and Finn stiffens at the grating voice that accompanies Quinn Fabray and pretends to not care when she presses her hip against his shoulder and trails the tips of her fingers along the back of his neck. She does it not to irritate him, but to irritate the person he is with, because she no longer cares about his feelings and only wants to piss the other person off. He keeps his eyes on Rachel as she stares at the three girls behind him and he sees her silently freak out in the presence of these three girls. She's reacting exactly the way Quinn wants her to react and in that moment, Finn wishes he could tell her that this is what Quinn wants and that she shouldn't give her the joy of seeing Rachel squirm. But just when he's about to say something, Quinn pulls out a chair and sits down between the two of them. She waves Finn off as he opens his mouth to speak and he swallows hard, closing his eyes briefly before turning back to look at Rachel who looks far more terrified than he's ever seen her, "And you are?"

"Rachel Berry."

"What is your relationship with Finn?"

"We're friends."

"_Friends_ or friends? Because they both mean two very different things."

"Friends," Finn nods just a little as Rachel glances at him quickly and then leans back and looks down at the table as Quinn turns to look at him, "We're just friends."

"Well, that's definitely comforting. Because I wouldn't want you to think that you could get away with just about anything with my _boyfriend_ while I'm in the same city."

"Boyfriend?"

"Quinn…"

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Finn grinds his teeth as Quinn shifts in her chair so that she can look at the both of them and when she stretches out her hand to touch his cheek, Finn swats it away and notices the pain in her eyes as she drops her hand to her lap, "Finn and I have been together since forever. Baby, why didn't you tell her?"

"Because we're not together and have not been together for almost five months."

"Details, details," Quinn's words made Finn shift his attention back to Rachel as her eyes filled up and he kicked himself for letting things get this far, "Point is, _Rachel_, Finn and I are high school sweethearts and unlike other high school sweethearts, we're going the distance."

"I understand."

"Good girl, you're so much easier than the other girls that think they can turn their one night in some seedy motel with Finn into a full-fledged relationship."

"That's enough, Quinn."

"I'm just doing what's right, honey."

"I should go," Finn shook his head at Rachel's words and stood up as she did, biting down on his lip as she avoided his eyes and dropped money on the table beside her glass of water, "Thank you."

"Rachel, wait…" Finn shook Quinn off as she rested her hand on his arm and gave him what could be called her sweetest smile if she wasn't being such a total bitch about things. He watched Rachel run out of the restaurant, his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he tried to control his temper, "This isn't high school, Quinn."

"Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better."

"What do I need to do to make you understand that _we're_ not together anymore?"

"Nothing, because you're delusional about this and think that you can actually dump someone like me."

"I never thought you were stupid before, but right this minute I want nothing more than to punch you in the face."

"You wouldn't hurt me even if I broke your heart over and over again."

"No, but I know a way to make you fucking miserable."

"You wouldn't."

"Don't tempt me," Finn poked a finger in her face and silently rejoiced when Quinn recoiled and looked away. It wasn't till they had broken up that Finn realized how terrible a combination they were together. Just because their names sounded good together, did not mean that they worked as a couple. In fact, that was enough reason for them to _not_ work. That and the fact that Quinn's only reasoning for being with Finn was because he was super popular and she wanted that status in school and possibly for the rest of her life. What she didn't understand was that Finn didn't want some trophy wife – or be a trophy husband – he just wanted someone who could appreciate him no matter what. And Quinn didn't know how to appreciate him. Most of their time together she had spent putting him down in front of their friends and now, it was his turn.

_**xxx**_

Rachel isn't even sure how she got back to her dorm because the minute she left the restaurant, the tears had clouded her sight. And it didn't matter that she was lying face first in her pillow, still sobbing, she couldn't get what had happened out of her head. Finn had a girlfriend. Of course he did. A guy like that couldn't be single and even if he was, he would be single long enough to snare the next girl. And she was never going to be that girl. It was thanks to girls like the ones she had encountered with Finn that Rachel believed she would never be the girl that guys like Finn Hudson picked. She was boring. She was simple. She was flawed. She wasn't blonde, or skinny, or beautiful or perfect. She was tiny and Jewish and opinionated and had a nose that was anything but beautiful. She was the opposite of those girls and Rachel now knew exactly why she had always been so shocked that Finn was interested in her. Greg was right about guys like Finn using girls like Rachel because they were so naïve and so caught up in the glitz and glamor of being noticed by boys that had it all. She had been so stupid and now she was paying the price for it by spending the rest of her college life alone. Then again, maybe she'd find someone to appreciate her for everything that she was. And she wouldn't let the boy fool her into thinking that she was the center of his universe. It had happened twice already and she wasn't going to stand by and let it happen a third time. She wasn't that stupid.

"Rachel!" Pushing the sheets that were covering her head, Rachel blinked at the pounding on her door and it took her a few minutes to realize what was going on, "Rachel, open the door."

"Go away, Finn, I don't want to see you."

"You need to let me explain."

"Explain what, exactly?" She was screaming from her position on the bed and it was irritating her throat, but she refused to get up and open the door so they could have a civilized conversation, "Just go away."

"I didn't lie to you, Rachel, I swear."

"No, you just avoided telling me the whole story."

"There is nothing to tell when it comes to Quinn and me, because it's not what she makes it out to be."

"Why would she lie about something like that?"

"Because I hurt her feelings when I ended the relationship."

"Why did you _dump_ her, Finn?"

"Because I didn't want to be with her."

"How long were you two together before you dumped her?"

"How is that even relevant?"

"Everything is relevant, Finn," sighing heavily, Rachel climbed out of bed and opened the door a crack so that she could look at him, "You still love her."

"No, I don't."

"Do you love me?"

"Rachel…"

"You know what hurts the most?" she opened the door a little more and smoothed down her hair as she looked away, "You knew exactly what had happened to me before I met you. How I was treated badly by a guy I thought was perfect for me. You knew just how much he destroyed me and then the same thing happened all over again."

"I apologize for Quinn and her lack of self-control, but there is nothing happening between us anymore. It's been months since I even spoke to her."

"You don't need to apologize. We're not a couple. You don't love me like you loved her. We're just _friends_ and for as long as we've been friends, we've had some pretty good sex. That's all we are and maybe that's all we're meant to be."

"You don't mean that."

"I'm convincing myself to believe it when I say it, because I can't keep doing this anymore."

"Doing what?"

"Falling in love with you when you don't even feel the same way about me and probably never will," Rachel looked up at him and noticed Finn's eyes widen, her heart clenching as she shook her head and gave him a soft smile, "Goodbye, Finn." She shut the door and locked it, biting down on her bottom lip as she leaned against the door and slid to the floor, cradling her face in her hands as her body shook with her sobbing.


	5. Words, Hands, Hearts Summer Part 2

___**_**Disclaimer:**_**_ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only.____

_**Author's Note:** I apologize for taking SO LONG, I'll try not to take forever to update the story in the future. Please don't give up on me. All ideas and suggestions are welcome. I want to hear what you like and what you don't. And also what you would like to see. _

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><p><em>Summer, 2012<em>

It was a regular date. Two people going to dinner together and nothing else. Rachel was just going to overlook the fact that the only reason they were going on a date was because they had spent the last how many ever nights it was, exploring every curve and kink of each other. Now they needed to do something that made a little more sense. Like go on a date. Rachel spent most of the day with Greg, after his secret guest snuck out, and when Greg finally left for work she had a long shower. Washed her hair, blow-dried it, put on some make-up – just enough to make her eyes and mouth pop – and changed into khaki shorts and a white tank top. She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror, her fingers tracing the small trimming around low cut neck. Rachel Berry looked pretty good and she was comfortable too, so whatever Finn had planned for them, she was ready for it. As she waited in the living room, one leg crossed over the other, Rachel thought about how easy it had been for her to fall for Finn. He was perfect in so many ways and imperfect in others and what she liked about him the most was that he was not afraid of just being himself. Sighing happily, Rachel continued reading the book she had brought with her. Her whole summer plan was to spend her days reading on the beach and get drunk at night, while meeting cute boys. Now her plans were completely ruined and she was spending her days gushing over one boy and spending the nights drinking till she was drunk enough to be taken advantage of the same boy she gushed over during the day. There were so many things wrong with that, but Rachel knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her life wasn't perfect and her history with boys hadn't been all that fantastic either, but there was something about Finn that made her believe that maybe this might be something more. The something more that she _really_ needed in her life.

When the doorbell rang, Rachel jumped slightly on the couch and put her hand over her heart as she calmed herself down. Smoothing down her clothes as she walked to the front door, Rachel glanced at herself in the mirror once more and nodded, "Looking good, Berry." Chuckling at her words, Rachel took a deep breath and pulled the door open, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of the boy in front of her. He was wearing jeans and a black collared t-shirt with sneakers and his hair looked like it always did – a natural mess. "Hi."

"You look amazing."

"You don't look so bad yourself."

"I just need to say it again, I _love_ your legs."

"Stop it," Rachel blushed and grabbed her purse off the table by the door and stepped out, "I would invite you in, but I'm scared that we'd never leave."

"That's probably true," Rachel laughed as Finn led the way down to the car in the driveway and nodded as he opened the passenger side door for her. Her heart was still doing that going out of control thing and it took a lot of effort for Rachel to not just reach across the seat and have her way with Finn. But they were doing this the normal way. A date. She buckled herself in and crossed one leg over the other, placing her purse on her lap as Finn started the car and pulled out of the driveway. She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled to herself, "So, where are we going?"

"My brother found this place far away from the posh side and he can't stop talking about."

"What's it called?"

"I have no clue. I just have the directions and instructions to look for a shack with a rainbow flag."

"That's not going to be easy, Finn."

"I know, but GPS should always help, right?"

"Right," Rachel giggled as she watched Finn mess around with the GPS. She kept her eyes on him as he stuck his tongue out in concentration and tried to figure out how to work the system. It was actually really adorable watching the changing expressions on his face and Rachel had to admit that despite how old they really were, Finn Hudson looked like such a kid right then. Smiling when he sighed in defeat, Rachel took over and checked the GPS and punched in the address that was on the sheet and then shrugged, "There we go."

"And I'm supposed to be good with cars, gadgets and gizmos."

"It's okay, not all guys have to be good at all those things."

"I'm good with PlayStation and Xbox, everything else just confuses me a little too much."

"Maybe you can teach me," Rachel smiled and shifted in her seat as Finn drove, "I don't do much besides read, practice and sleep."

"Come on, you have got to have hobbies of some kind."

"A few," she smiles and glances at him, not sure if she wants to share her troubles with the guy that she's got this larger than life crush on. After all, he could be considered a complete stranger, "I like to sing, so I'm part of this small choir in the city."

"You know, I figured you were a singer given the fact that you sing instead of snoring."

"Shut up," Rachel met his eyes as he shrugged and she instantly felt a lot easier around him. Maybe telling him the truth about everything wasn't the worst thing to happen to her, "My parents aren't around much, so I do a lot on my own."

"Like what?"

"Why are you so curious about my life?"

"Because that's what people do on dates, they get to know each other, they swap stories and all that other usual stuff."

"So for every random thing about myself, you'll tell me something random about you?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright," Rachel tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled to herself as she looked out the window, "You already know that I sing, and because I'm _pretty_ good, I take classes at the community center for underprivileged kids."

"Pretty good, huh?"

"When I was younger, I wanted to be on Broadway, but those dreams were crushed when my parents…." Rachel closed her eyes and bit down on her lip, trying to get the words out. She felt Finn's hand on her knee and she took a deep breath before looking at him, "My parents aren't perfect and I won't defend them even if my life depended on it, but they are my parents, right?"

"If they don't make you happy, Rachel, you don't have to keep pretending."

"What if your parents fought all the time and were constantly trying to kill each other? What would you do?"

"Probably lash out and find something better to do with my life."

"Precisely," Rachel put her hand over his and smiled to herself as he turned his over and laced their fingers together, "I stay out of the house as much as I can because they blame me for the end of their romance and they blame me for just about everything and anything that is going wrong with them."

"What's up with your parents?"

"They don't want me."

"No parent feels that way about their kid, Rach."

"No, seriously, they don't want me. I'm their biggest mistake, the problem in their marriage. Basically, the reason why they can't be happy."

"We don't have to talk about this, if you don't want to."

"We can talk about it later," Rachel squeezed his hand smiled, "Maybe when the date is over."

"Hey, if I have anything to do with it, this date is never going to end."

"I'm not sure if I'm excited or concerned about this whole wooing process."

"Excitedly concerned," Rachel laughed and shook her head, glancing at Finn as he parked outside the restaurant, "I'm gonna rock your world, Rachel Berry."

_**xxx**_

"What do you mean you don't eat meat?"

"Vegan, duh," Finn narrowed his eyes at Rachel as she pointed at herself, "We had this conversation already."

"I must have been drunk."

"You were wasted, yes."

"So what are you gonna eat if you don't eat meat?"

"There are vegan options on this menu."

"Seriously?"

"Thing I've learned about the Hamptons is that everything is available because the rich and famous come here to get away from the city and if you can't provide a fashion designer with his or her choice of food, then you're in serious trouble. Worse trouble than you would be in with the Health Department."

"So you're telling me that every restaurant we go to from now onwards will have vegan options because there are tons of people in the city that are vegan?"

"You learn fast."

"Eh," Finn chuckled and closed the menu and leaned back, "Do your drinks have to be vegan as well?"

"I'm pretty sure there isn't anything in wine that makes it non-vegetarian."

"I would not put that past them."

"I'll have some wine then," Finn nodded and called a waiter over, ordered their drinks and then turned back to Rachel, "What's good in the vegan section?"

"Everything sounds really good."

"Pick something for me."

"What?"

"You're vegan, I'm a hardcore carnivore and I know that when I kiss you later, you're going to taste the meat and while I can be a douche like that, I figured that on our first date, I should at least take your lifestyle choices into consideration."

"Finn…"

"Come on, pick something for me."

"You don't have to do that just because of me."

"You have no idea how badly I want to keep my lips attached to yours right now, so just pick something for me as well."

"Do you do this for all your dates?"

"Nah, only the ones that stop my lungs from functioning pretty much all the time."

"That could turn into a serious condition if you don't look into it."

"If this is going to kill me, then at least I will die knowing that it was you that killed me by just existing."

"You," Finn smirked as Rachel laughed, unable to get all her words out, "You are such a cheeseball."

"Hey, it got you to laugh."

"Am I right to assume that you like the sound of my laugh?"

"Love it," Finn winked as Rachel blushed and put his hands on his lap as the waiter brought them their drinks, "Rach, what are we having for dinner?"

"If you don't like the food, you better not hold me responsible," Finn pursed his lips in thought as Rachel arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him and handed the menu back to the waiter, "What?"

"If it sucks, I'll just stuff my face with regular ice cream."

"But then you can't kiss me."

"I'll find a way."

The conversation went on all through dinner and while Finn was skeptical about eating something that didn't contain any meat whatsoever, he was pleasantly surprised when the food tasted a lot better than the stuff he usually ate. There were no awkward silences, there was a lot of _innocent_ flirting and by the time they had polished off two bottles of wine and every last piece of tofu on their plates, Rachel had kicked off her wedges and had one foot up his jeans, her toes brushing against his skin slightly as they just stared at each other. There was so much more about Rachel Berry that he had to learn, but Finn convinced himself that he had more than enough time to get to know her and more than enough time to understand what made her tick. Right then, _he_ made her tick. Because he could see the way she was looking at him and while he had never noticed girls looking at him like that, he had heard Quinn mumble about other girls checking him out. Rachel had her head cocked to one side, her eyes bright and matching her smile as Finn talked about growing up without a father and his mother meeting Burt and adding Kurt to the family and how difficult all of it was at the start because he didn't know how to deal with the fact that his step-brother had a crush on him. And through it all, Rachel's foot played along his leg while she nodded and listened intently, stopping him to ask questions about how his relationship with Kurt changed and when she was going to meet him. Nobody else had ever cared about his life as much as Rachel and while Quinn knew everything there was to know about the Hudson-Hummel situation, she had never been interested in the family and the family had never been interested in her. Finn was sure that if and when his mother met Rachel, she would love her without a doubt. It was hard not to like Rachel Berry, she was kinda perfect. "Finn?"

"Mhm?"

"You're staring?"

"Is that a problem?"

"It's pretty flattering, but a little daunting at the same time."

"I have nothing else to do but watch you, anyway."

"Stop it," Finn smiled as Rachel blushed and when their big bowl of vegan ice cream appeared on the table, she pulled her foot away from his leg, "You're gonna love this."

"I don't get it though, how do you make all the same things without using meat and dairy products?"

"It's called magic, Finn."

"Basically, you're a _witch_."

"I have been called worse."

"I take it you can cook vegan food?"

"If Greg will ever let me use his kitchen, I will cook something for you."

"I think I can find a way to convince him to let us do that."

"He's not going to be seduced by Kurt, Finn."

"Now that you mention it, I should use Kurt as a distraction."

"I doubt your brother will appreciate it."

"Trust me, Kurt wants to meet new people."

"Open up," Finn widened his eyes slightly and opened his mouth, leaning forward as Rachel scooped up some ice cream and put the spoon in his mouth, "Tell me what you think."

"Mhm," Finn swallowed and licked his lips, "That is actually really good."

"I can make better, but this is pretty good."

"I _definitely_ need to convince Greg to let us have the kitchen now."

"Well, then I look forward to cooking for you," Rachel smiled and scooped some ice cream for herself and took her time licking it off the spoon, distracting Finn completely, "We'll make a date of it."

"I better get to work on distracting Greg soon, because I don't think I can wait too long for another date."

"Unfortunately for you, he's out tonight, so you'll have to try again tomorrow morning."

"Tonight is about us, so let's just leave Greg out of it for now," Finn grinned and opened his mouth for another spoon of ice cream.

"Okay, back to getting to know each other."

"Right," Finn licked his lips, bent down a little to pull Rachel's foot onto his lap and as he massaged the balls of her feet he smiled at her, "Favorite color?"

"Pink. What do you want to be when you _grow up_?"

"A professional drummer. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?"

"Paris. Who is your favorite actress?"

"Catherine Zeta Jones. Your favorite actor?"

"Hugh Jackman. Favorite band?"

"That's a tough one, but for the sake of answering it, I'll go with Pantera. Favorite Broadway musical?"

"Funny Girl. Who is Pantera?"

"They're a metal band. Well," Finn shrugged and continued massaging Rachel's foot, "They were a metal band, one of the best, really. Their lead guitarist was murdered by a fan during a concert."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's not an important story, but that's what happened."

"Metal music is noise, Finn."

"We'll make a deal," he smirked and licked his lips again, "You can make me sit through _Funny Girl_ and in turn, I'll introduce you to some of my favorite music."

"I can already tell you that I won't enjoy it."

"Don't kick it till you try it," Finn wiggled his eyebrows and smiled when Rachel tilted her head back and laughed.

"Fine, only because you insist so _nicely_."

"Thank you," he winked and was about to say something more when the manager came to tell him that they were closing up shortly and handed him the bill. Finn thanked the man and checked the bill as Rachel dropped her foot to the floor and straightened up.

"What's the damage, Mr. Hudson?"

"A lot better than I expected," he left some money on the table and smiled at her, "Ready to go?"

"Yup," Finn stood up and held his hand out to her, smiling as Rachel linked her fingers with his, "Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure what comes after drinks, dinner and dessert, so what do you think?"

"Well, there's…." Rachel pursed her lips and walked with Finn to the car, "A walk on the beach, star gazing, sex… the list just goes on and on here."

"How about we do all of that?"

"Think you can handle _all_ of that?"

"I can definitely handle the last one, but I could give the other two a try."

"You know…" Rachel tugged Finn to a stop and it down on her bottom lip, "I could do with some of the last one too."

"We do have the house all to ourselves," Finn smiled as he looked down at Rachel, "We probably shouldn't waste such an opportunity."

"I agree."

"Home it is," Finn leaned in and kissed Rachel, wrapping their linked hands around her waist and pulling her against him.


End file.
